The recently concluded 39th Ryder Cup was a highly successful event for the European team, who dedicated their win to former team captain and player, the late Steve Ballesteros.

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 06, 2012 ) Medinah, IL – The 39th Ryder Cup was recently concluded at the Medinah Country Club. The event marked the first time that the Ryder Cup was held in Illinois. The three-day event was held from September 28 to 30.

The United States team was led by Davis Love III while the European team was led by captain Jose Maria Olazabal. Olazabal’s team was the defending cup holders since they defeated the U.S. team in the 38th Ryder Cup held in 2010.

Both team exhibited excellent display of golf prowess, but in the end only one team would prevail. After the final day, a lot of golf fans were rooting for the U.S. team, who led 10-6 and needed only 4 ½ points to win. This left Europe scrambling for 8 points to retain the cup and 8 ½ points to win it, which it successfully did by winning 8 matches and tying one, an effort that is now dubbed as the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ by the media. While the last and final match was still being played, Martin Kaymer defeated Steve Stricker and brought the scores to 14-13, which already meant Europe would retain the cup.

Victory finally came when Tiger Woods of team United States missed a putt on the final match and thus lost to Francesco Molinari. The European team won by 14 ½ - 13 ½; they now have five golf trophies all won during the six latest Ryder Cup events.

According to European captain Olazabal, the team’s victory was dedicated to the late Steve Ballesteros, who helped Europe win five Ryder Cup events in his stint as captain.

“Steve will always be present,” Olazabal said during his speech at the event’s closing ceremony. “He was a big factor for this event and last night when we were having a meeting I think the boys understood that believing was the most important thing.”

Team players praised Olazabal for his faith in the team. Paul Lawrie said of their captain: “He believed we could all win. When someone like him says that, it makes you think you can do it. And that is what we did.”

It was Lawrie who flew to Gleneagles by helicopter following the event to hand over the Ryder Cup to the Perthshire course, the chosen host for the 2014 tournament.

While the Europeans were celebrating a bittersweet and miraculous victory, Tiger Woods of the United States team was at the bitter receiving end of criticisms due to his missed three-foot par putt on the 18th green, which led him to concede the match to Europe. Woods is being criticized for basically handing over the victory to the opposing team.

Even the bookies are pretty disappointed. A spokesman from Ladbrokes said: “No one bets on a tie. It cost us just over £650,000 last night on Tiger’s miss. Tiger is not a bookie’s friend this morning.”

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